Central London
Camden, Chelsea, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, Westminster Central London is the heartbeat of the London social scene. The West End Westminster and the West End (Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square (London’s most famous square). It is where most of the main attractions are found. The West End is the center of London’s cultural life with Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, the shops and theatres of Soho, Convent Garden. British Museum (in Bloomsbury) Fashion District: Bond St, Savile Row, Soho and Great Portland St – London’s very own garment district – all converge at John Princes St. Regent & Oxford are other major shopping streets. Many broadcast media have their offices on Great Portland Street. Thriving people zones with theaters, restaurants, pubs, boutiques. Most visitors to London spend their time here Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia, Marylebone. Madame Tussauds Waxworks. British Library. King’s Cross, long a seedy area in the heart of London, being regenerated since the arrival of the Eurostar, which comes into St. Pancras International instead of Waterloo as originally planned. Six tubes convene underneath King’s Cross Station, and it is the number one hub for visitors to get to and from Heathrow and Gatwick airport. Clerkenwell – Once known as “Little Italy” in the 60′s, it is a neighbourhood north and a bit west of the City, site of London’s first hospital and the hole of many early churches. This includes St. Bartholomew The Great, built in 1123, still standing and London’s oldest church by far. Now home to hot restaurants, clubs and art galleries along St. John’s Square, but trucks still rumble into Smithfield Market at night, bearing thousands of beef carcasses. Served by Farringdon Station. Reputedly the base of the Adams family, a major crime syndicate family. The West of Central London is home to London’s rich and wealthy, with neighbourhoods such as Mayfair, Belgravia, Chelsea, South Kensington, Notting Hill. Has many trendy shops and restaurants, as well as museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington Palace, Tate Britain. Other featured landmarks are Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The West End: Downtown London The West End (that is, west of the City) is “downtown” London. The West End is known for the theater, entertainment, and shopping areas around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. But a host of neighborhoods make up the West End. Holborn (in Camden) Abutting the City of London to the west is the old borough of Holborn, the legal heart of London and home to the Inns of Court, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Old Bailey, and Royal Courts of Justice. The Strand and Covent Garden (in Westminster) The northern section of the Strand, the area west of Holborn, is Covent Garden, with Shaftesbury Avenue as its northern boundary. Covent Garden has many theaters, eateries, and shops and is home to the Royal Opera House and Covent Garden Market, one of the busiest shopping areas in London. Covent Garden is an area for strolling, shopping, and stopping for tea or a meal. Bloomsbury (in Camden) Just north of Covent Garden, New Oxford Street and Bloomsbury Way mark the beginnings of the Bloomsbury district, home of the British Museum and several colleges and universities, as well as the only surviving London home of novelist Charles Dickens. This intellectual pocket of Central London was home to the famed Bloomsbury Group, whose members included novelist Virginia Woolf and historian Lytton Strachey. Soho (in Westminster) This lively area is full of restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, and nightclubs and is popular with the gay community. London’s Gay Village centers around Old Compton Street. Gerrard Street is one of the main streets of Chinatown. Much of Soho used to be a down-to-earth Italian neighborhood, but the area later became known for its strip joints and porn palaces. You still see remnants of the sex ’n’ sleaze era, but most of it is now gone, and things are going upscale. The Soho neighborhood occupies a maze of densely packed streets. Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, and Charing Cross This area, just west of the Strand, is “downtown” London or Theatreland. Piccadilly Circus, with its landmark statue of Eros, is the area’s major traffic hub and best-known tourist destination, feeding into Regent Street and Piccadilly. The Royal Academy of Arts is just west of Piccadilly Circus. A few minutes’ walk to the east puts you at Leicester Square and Shaftesbury Avenue, where you find most of the West End theaters. From Leicester Square, Charing Cross Road runs south to Trafalgar Square, with its delightful fountains and four immense bronze lions guarding its corners. Around the square, you see the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Charing Cross Road is well known for its bookshops. The Tube stops are Charing Cross, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus. Mayfair Elegant and exclusive, Mayfair is luxury-hotel and luxury-shopping land. The area is nestled among Regent Street on the east, Oxford Street on the north, Piccadilly on the south, and Hyde Park on the west. The major Tube stops are Bond Street, Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch, and Piccadilly Circus. Marylebone In a sense, Marylebone (pronounced mar-lee-bone) is “Medical London” because the area has several hospitals and the famous Harley Street Clinic. But perhaps the most famous street is Baker Street, home of the fictional Sherlock Holmes. Madame Tussaud’s wax museum is on Marylebone Road. Marylebone is the neighborhood north of Mayfair and Bloomsbury and is capped to the north by giant Regent’s Park (Marylebone Road runs south of the park). Great Portland Street is the area’s eastern boundary and Edgware Road the western. The major Tube stops are Baker Street, Marylebone, and Regent’s Park. St. James’s St. James’s is “royal London,” a posh green haven beginning at Piccadilly and moving southwest to include Green Park and St. James’s Park, with Buckingham Palace between them and St. James’s Palace across from St. James’s Park. Pall Mall (pronounced pell mell), lined with exclusive “gentlemen’s clubs,” runs roughly east–west into the area and meets the north–south St. James’s Street. Regent Street is the eastern boundary. The Tube stops are Green Park and St. James’s Park. Westminster East and south of St. James’s, Westminster draws visitors to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, the seat of British government. Westminster extends from Northumberland Avenue just south of Charing Cross to Vauxhall Bridge Road, with the Thames to the east and St. James’s Park to the west. Victoria Station, on the northwestern perimeter, is a kind of axis for Belgravia, Pimlico, and Westminster. The Tube stops are St. James’s Park, Victoria, and Westminster. Pimlico The pie-shaped wedge extending west from Vauxhall Bridge Road to Buckingham Palace Road is Pimlico. Crowning the area to the north is Victoria Station. Near the Vauxhall Bridge is the Tate Britain gallery. The Tube stops are Pimlico and Victoria. Belgravia A posh quarter long favored by aristocrats, Belgravia is where many foreign embassies are located. Beginning west of Victoria Station and Green Park, Belgravia extends south to the river and west to Sloane Street; Hyde Park is its northern boundary. The Tube stops are Hyde Park, Sloane Square, and Victoria. Central London: Parks, museums, and more West of the West End, you find Central London’s residential, cultural, and shopping attractions, including beautiful gardens and popular museums. Knightsbridge West of Belgravia is the fashionable residential and shopping district of Knightsbridge, bounded to the north by Hyde Park and to the west by Brompton Road. Here you find Harrods, the famed department store that has been a London shopping staple for a century and a half. Running through the neighborhood is pretty Beauchamp (pronounced beech-um) Place with its expensive boutiques. The Tube stops are Knightsbridge and Sloane Square. Chelsea South of Knightsbridge and west of Belgravia, artsy, trendy Chelsea begins at Sloane Square and runs south to Cheyne Walk and Chelsea Embankment along the Thames. The famous King’s Road acts as its northern boundary and Chelsea Bridge Road its eastern border. To the west, the area extends as far as Earl’s Court Road, Redcliffe Gardens, and Edith Grove. In Chelsea, you find Carlyle’s House and the lovely and historic Chelsea Physic Garden. The annual Chelsea Flower Show is held on the grounds of Chelsea Royal Hospital. The Tube stop is Sloane Square. South Kensington Forming the green northern boundary of South Kensington are Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. South Ken is London’s museum capital, including the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and Victoria & Albert Museum, and is packed with hotels and restaurants. South Kensington is bounded to the south by Brompton Road, to the west by Gloucester (pronounced gloss-ter) Road, and to the east by Fulham Road. The Tube stops are Gloucester Road and South Kensington. Kensington The residential neighborhood of Kensington fills in the gap between Kensington Gardens and Holland Park, with Notting Hill Gate and Bayswater Road marking the northern boundary. Kensington Church Street runs north–south between Notting Hill Gate and Kensington High Street. The Tube stop is High Street Kensington. Earl’s Court This down-to-earth neighborhood has long been a haven for budget travelers (particularly Australians — hence its nickname, Kangaroo Court) and for gays and lesbians. Earl’s Court is gradually being renovated, but some streets still look a bit down at the heels. This area offers no major tourist attractions, but it does have some good hotels and B&Bs. The area begins south of West Cromwell Road and extends south to Lillie Road and Brompton Road. Its western boundary is North End Road, and its eastern boundary is Earl’s Court Road. The Tube stop is Earl’s Court. Notting Hill Beginning north of Holland Park, Kensington Gardens, and Hyde Park (Holland Park Avenue and Bayswater Road run along the northern perimeter of the parks), you find the antiques shops of Notting Hill and the rising sub-neighborhood of Notting Hill Gate. The area is bounded by Clarendon Road to the west, Queensway to the east, and Wesbourne Grove to the north. The most famous street, Portobello Road, runs north–south through the center. The neighborhood served as a backdrop for the 1999 movie Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. The Tube stops are Bayswater, Notting Hill Gate, and Queensway. Bayswater and Paddington Picking up where Notting Hill ends, Bayswater runs east to meet Marylebone at Edgware Road. The roaring A40 (Westway) highway acts as its northern boundary. Paddington Station is in the northwestern corner of Bayswater. This commercial area isn’t much to look at. The neighborhood offers no major tourist attractions, but it does have many budget B&Bs. The Tube stops are Edgware Road, Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, and Paddington. Category:London